Even without Newsome, Ansonia rolls to victory

William S. Paxton

Updated 1:02 pm, Friday, October 12, 2012

ANSONIA -- Arkeel Newsome sat this one out.

The Ansonia Chargers never missed their star tailback. Andrew Matos returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and the Chargers cruised to a 47-0 victory over Seymour Thursday night at Jarvis Stadium.

"We had a lot of momentum after (Matos) made that play," said fullback Saiheed Sanders, who rushed for 100 yards and three touchdowns in place of Newsome. "We came out and played hard after we saw that."

Sanders rushed for 60 yards and three touchdowns on five carries in the opening half, scoring 8- and 31-yard touchdowns on his first two touches to push the lead to 20-0 for Ansonia (5-0).

"We're better for him having not played this week," said Ansonia coach Tom Brockett, who had Newsome dress just in case. "He hasn't been one hundred percent all year."

The Wildcats (3-2), who were minus their leading rusher Jim Vartelas due to a knee injury, started strong on their first drive. Quarterback Mike Conlan twice picked up first downs with passes, including a 33-yarder to Christian Thurmond, after starting at its 10-yard line. However, the 12-play drive stalled at Ansonia's 46-yard line and Matos ran back Jack Briggs' 31-yard punt for a touchdown.

"We let them off the hook three times on the opening drive, that wasn't good, but other than that I thought we played pretty good," said Brockett, whose first-string defense has allowed just one touchdown (last week vs. Holy Cross) all season.

It was the last time the Wildcats crossed midfield in the half. Conlan finished 4-for-10 passing for 62 yards and one interception.

"Unfortunately, we shot ourselves in the foot a lot," Seymour coach Tom Lennon said. "We didn't take advantage of our opportunities. Matos is a special player and he made a couple plays and we weren't able to respond."

Ansonia scored on four straight possessions after its first offensive series ended with an interception and led 41-0 at the half.

Quarterback JaiQuan McKnight added two touchdowns passes to extend the lead to 34-0 with 4:42 left in the second quarter. McKnight connected with Raeshaun Finney for a 13-yard score and then tossed a 5-yarder to Ryan O'Connor.

Sanders closed the half with a 9-yard touchdown run. McKnight finished 5 of 9 passing for 97 yards and two TDs with one interception. Matos added 76 yards on three carries.

"We work at different positions and we have multiple weapons on this team," Sanders said. "The line stepped up really big today. I couldn't have done anything without my line."

Freshman Tyler Bailey added a 2-yard touchdown run with 8:39 left in the game to make it 47-0. The Chargers took a knee on the extra point.